2018 July California Bar Forum

[dabigchina]

how tf did i even pass, i dont even right now

[phonylawyer2017]

Anyone know if NCBEX score services provides your MBE score if you failed and you request it? I did so, and file cabinet is empty.

[mathandthelaw]

I passed! Congrats to ALL who passed. To those who did not, stay strong!

[psg190]

I owe a huge shoutout to all my cyber buddies on this board. I was the worst of the bar exam Eeyores: I hated law school, didn't take the exam after graduating in 2012, struggled while studying, failed miserably as a first-time taker last year, and by some miracle passed on my second go around. Kudos to everyone who took the exam, and to those who are down right now keep your chin up - you'll pass this thing.

[MBernard]

I passed! Congrats to ALL who passed. To those who did not, stay strong!

Math, congrats!!! I thought you would. Glad so many of you guys I interacted with on the forum passed. Hope you all celebrate and have a chance to chill now.

[LALocal76]

I owe a huge shoutout to all my cyber buddies on this board. I was the worst of the bar exam Eeyores: I hated law school, didn't take the exam after graduating in 2012, struggled while studying, failed miserably as a first-time taker last year, and by some miracle passed on my second go around. Kudos to everyone who took the exam, and to those who are down right now keep your chin up - you'll pass this thing.

Thank you for your post. I can relate, and I’m heartened to hear you passed on the second go around. Congratulations, and thanks again.

[phonylawyer2017]

Did the admissions page update for everyone, even those who failed? My last update was before the 6pm release time.

[Nightcrawler]

Foreign law graduate from a non-English speaking country, and 4th time taker. Against all odds, I PASSED THE CALIFORNIA BAR EXAM. A huge thank you to a male human, Joe Seperac, and all other supporting members of this community. Congrats to all those who passed. For those who failed, do not let this put you down. This test is beatable. It’s fucking hard but you can do it if you want it.

[barprepforca]

Also I have to stress that whoever recommended taking 10-15 minutes from each essay to spend more time on the PT was a genius. I felt like having that extra time to nail down the PT was a must and I still had enough time on the CP and Con Law essays to adequately take them on.

[Nightcrawler]

Also I have to stress that whoever recommended taking 10-15 minutes from each essay to spend more time on the PT was a genius. I felt like having that extra time to nail down the PT was a must and I still had enough time on the CP and Con Law essays to adequately take them on.

Agree. I gave this advice last time because it proved successful during my previous attempts. That time, I got a 65 on the PT which helps. A big thanks to whoever suggested that to me in the past. Real game changer! I’m sure this time it helped too. I will never know, which is great lol.

[Aavni]

Passed. 1st time CA taker, passed NY last year. Foreign educated, non-English speaking country. Used Kaplan for NY, Barmax for CA.

[mimim8]

Passed!

Attorneys exam-
I would kill to see my scores because my PT sucked. I literally had only 800 words down when time was called.

[mimim8]

Took the attorneys exam after studying 3 weeks and failed. Will be interested to see how close I came. Tough part is not knowing what to do differently, except MORE. Which sucks (will be trying cases by 2019). 32%. Amazing!

Dude, I was literally on ur same boat


I took the attys exam July 2017 after studying full time and knowing it all inside out and failed.

I took the July 2018 atty exam, while working full time, week and a half off from work and passed. Idk how but I did. I’ll be happy to share maybe some insight into what I did differently if interested. But in short- last time I tried to memorize eeeeverything But I wasn’t prepared for an essay exam. I feel like I would have done well had I taken the MBE. This time I didn’t have time to learn everything so while I reviewed everything- I focused memorizing perfect essay templates on all the main bar topics. And I focused my studying on MBE topics. When I would review I topic I would see how I would frame it in essay form and literally memorize the whole flow. I know it helped me a lot in the evidence, Pr and con law questions.

Don’t give up!

[justanotheruser]

Also I have to stress that whoever recommended taking 10-15 minutes from each essay to spend more time on the PT was a genius. I felt like having that extra time to nail down the PT was a must and I still had enough time on the CP and Con Law essays to adequately take them on.

I failed the July 2017 bar by 26-28 points, and me getting a 50 on the PT was an absolute killer (this was the first exam after the format change). I spent way too much time on Essays 4 & 5, choked under pressure, and by the time I got to the PT I only had 30 minutes remaining.

When practicing for the February 2018 bar (which I passed), I decided from the get go I would be doing the PT first (allowing myself to spend up to 1 hr 45 minutes) before moving onto Essays 4 & 5. Ideally, I'd finish the PT in 90 minutes max, but even if I went up to 1 hr 45 minutes, I'd only be deducting 7-8 minutes from each of the two remaining essays (not a big deal).

Practice paid off and the PT was the least stressful part of the Feb 2018 bar for me.

[ipse dixit]

Passed, first time! Thank you, barbri!

Congrats to all who made it on the pass list. To all others, stay focused and you will get there!

[MBernard]

Also I have to stress that whoever recommended taking 10-15 minutes from each essay to spend more time on the PT was a genius. I felt like having that extra time to nail down the PT was a must and I still had enough time on the CP and Con Law essays to adequately take them on.

I failed the July 2017 bar by 26-28 points, and me getting a 50 on the PT was an absolute killer (this was the first exam after the format change). I spent way too much time on Essays 4 & 5, choked under pressure, and by the time I got to the PT I only had 30 minutes remaining.

When practicing for the February 2018 bar (which I passed), I decided from the get go I would be doing the PT first (allowing myself to spend up to 1 hr 45 minutes) before moving onto Essays 4 & 5. Ideally, I'd finish the PT in 90 minutes max, but even if I went up to 1 hr 45 minutes, I'd only be deducting 7-8 minutes from each of the two remaining essays (not a big deal).

Practice paid off and the PT was the least stressful part of the Feb 2018 bar for me.

Agree with the emphasis on allocating extra time to the PT. Having the extra time allowed me to delve further into the material and also create a proper intro, conclusion and citations.

Also, if you’re an attorney who failed and took the 1 day format I’d strongly consider switching to the two day format. Honestly, the MBE isn’t that bad and can be gamed via continuous practice. Unlike the essays, the grading for the MBE isn’t subjective and you don’t have to worry about what grader you’re going to get. I’ve heard of a few horror stories where people score differently upon regrade due to weird subjectivity in the graders... I’m licensed also in TX, wasn’t eligible yet for the two day format, but I’d still do things the same way regardless. Going to order my MBE score from the NCBE to try and figure out just how much it helped me.

[Happy88]

I didn’t pass.

I’m still hoping there’s an error and I’ll know for sure the day they release the list to the public. I know I’m being too hopeful but I’m just in denial because I put my everything in this.

It sucks that I can’t even know now what’s my MBE score or essays.

[santoki]

My admission status page was just updated to reflect that I passed. Good luck to everyone else!

wow it came out early!

This was so clutch for me to find out a few minutes early. Passed and thankful!

[ckyo01]

Is there a way to find out what our essay scores or mbe scores were if we passed?

[phoebe123]

I failed (first time taker) and am feeling really, really depressed - questioning if I’m even cut out to be an attorney. Anyone have any advice for picking yourself up again for the next one?

[MBernard]

My admission status page was just updated to reflect that I passed. Good luck to everyone else!

wow it came out early!

This was so clutch for me to find out a few minutes early. Passed and thankful!

Congrats bud, never again!

[diatribe]

My admission status page was just updated to reflect that I passed. Good luck to everyone else!

wow it came out early!

This was so clutch for me to find out a few minutes early. Passed and thankful!

Can confirm that the admissions status page updated prior to the pass list being released. I learned I passed at 5:58 and was able to confirm on the official pass list at 6:00. Two minutes isn’t a great cheat but it was something

[MBernard]

My admission status page was just updated to reflect that I passed. Good luck to everyone else!

wow it came out early!

This was so clutch for me to find out a few minutes early. Passed and thankful!

Can confirm that the admissions status page updated prior to the pass list being released. I learned I passed at 5:58 and was able to confirm on the official pass list at 6:00. Two minutes isn’t a great cheat but it was something

Huh, so that is a thing eh? Also, I noticed that it is dated earlier. When I checked my admission page it stated that I was on motion as of 11/13. This information needs to be preserved to prevent future massive freakouts lol.

[Honey0808]

Congrats to all that passed! To those who didn't, don't despair, you got this the next time around! This exam IS beatable.

For future reference for anyone scouring this thread to see if people seemed surprised by their results, I passed and was a nervous wreck awaiting results, given the following mistakes I made:

1) didn't mention the written k requirement for contracts
2) didn't mention EP or contracts clause for con law which I think were major issues. This essay was a sh**show with me copying and pasting chunks of analysis then going back, deleting and ending up with a short essay.
3) didn't have time for a conclusion PT, felt super rushed on that

..and several other issues that aren't coming to mind now. This exam doesn't require perfection as there are plenty of ways to make up lost points in other areas. For future tester takers don't get discouraged if you miss issues in practice essays or if you get less than outstanding MBE scores, this test doesn't require perfection! Give it your all during prep and have faith in the process of preparation. Shoutout to everyone on TLS that has given such great advice and have been so supportive. If anyone needs any advice from a repeat taker, PM me, I'd love to pay it forward!

[GoneSouth]

I don't understand how California doesn't think their exam is too hard when 60 percent of people who have been licensed as attorneys by another state can't pass the exam. Could you imagine this in any other field? Would California ever get away with rejecting 60 percent of out-of-state doctors? It's a joke